“Forty thousand people jammed into Union Square and adjacent streets last night to hear (Nixon) declare that the United States enjoys high prestige in the world despite what Democrats say,” the story read. “Thunderous applause echoed as Nixon emphasized that the nation’s military might will be kept strongest in the world ‘whatever the cost or sacrifice’ if he is elected.”

The photo on the front page shows Nixon riding a cable car. Combined with his much-ballyhooed BART ride 12 years later, the future president only needed to jump on a Muni bus and catch a ride on a Golden Gate Ferry to check off all the classic Bay Area transit options.

Nixon’s 1960 visit came during a break-neck election schedule, and it was taking its toll on the California native.

“He had taken off from Baltimore in the fringe of a hurricane,” Chronicle columnist Art Hoppe wrote in another front-page piece. “He had flown to Indianapolis and Dallas with his injured leg resting on a special hassock. He had been pummeled and pounded and jerked this way and that by well-wishers in the East, the Midwest and the South for 17 hours.

“At the foot of the steps another mob of greeters waited,” Hoppe continued. “Ahead lay a speech from the rostrum at the airport, the long drive to San Francisco, a hectic jaunt on a cable car and a crowd estimated at 40,000 in Union Square.”

After all that, however, Nixon lit up. The reception seemed to buoy his spirits and ease his mind. His speech roused the tens of thousands in attendance, and he’d keep up the pace in the next two months of campaigning.

See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspaper’s 151-year history.

Chronicle Covers is a yearlong project that will highlight one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive every day for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken and producers Kimberly Chua, Michelle Devera and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim O’Rourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke